I started playing bowls at the age of 10 at Raynes Park Bowling Club in Surrey in 1990.  My Father was a member of Raynes Park and was Club Captain in the 1990’s.  I used to go along with him to watch play until I decided to have a go myself!  My Grandfather also used to play and I often played against him during the summer holidays in Saltdean, Sussex where he used to live.  My first achievement in the game was winning the club pairs with my Dad in 1994.

In 1996, I made the short move to West Wimbledon Bowls Club. West Wimbledon was one of the “powerhouses” of Surrey with many past and present Middleton Cup players there at the time. During my time at West Wimbledon I won the Surrey County Unbadged singles, whilst becoming a member of the Middleton Cup squad for the first time in 1998.

1999 – I moved to Cheam Village outdoors and moved to Wey Valley Indoors. Chris Young approached me to ask if I would like to move to Cheam Village to play with him and Paul Vamvacopoulos in the Surrey triples for the forthcoming 1999 season.

From 1996 to 2005 Cheam Village managed to secure at least one County title every year and could boast eight Middleton Cup players at the club. During this spell I broke into the England Junior International team in 2001 and 2003 and played in the full Senior International side in Belfast in 2005, leading to Andy Thomson (Skip) with Brett Morley (3) and Team Captain, Simon Skelton (2).

In 1998 I reached the quarter finals of the EIBA National U25 singles. Following this success, I moved from King George Field to Wey Valley in 1999. During my time with Wey Valley I have qualified for the EIBA National Finals on 14 occasions, playing in one Denny Cup final and winning three National U25 Inter-Club Double Rink titles in 2000, 2002 and 2003. In 2001 I was a finalist in the National Triples with my good friends Chris Young and Andy Hatto.

I became an EIBA Junior International and played in three International series in 2001, 2002 and 2004. I made my full Senior England International debut in 2007 after winning the EIBA National Singles in 2006, beating the then current World Indoor Singles Champion Mervyn King 21-17 at Melton Mowbray (the last player to win the singles there!).

I am member if the PBA (Professional Bowlers Association). I have been fortunate to have played in three World Singles Championships at Potters since 2005, playing against Darren Burnett, Andy Thomson and David Gourlay. In 2006, partner and best friend, Chris Young and I qualified for the World Pairs, playing 8 gruelling games to get there, eventually losing to Les Gillett and Simon Skelton on the last bowl of the last end of the tie break! There is no better feeling than playing on the blue portable rink in front of 1300 people!

In 2008, I was kindly invited to the Nigel Oldfield Super Series at Bristol IBC, which gave me the opportunity to play the top UK based players who are in the top 32 in the World. The Super Series was screened on the internet to Far Eastern Counties to bet on the bowls.

Name:	Country:	World Ranking at Time (Dec 2008)
David Gourlay	Scotland	World Joint No 2
Greg Harlow	England	World Joint No 2
Jason Greenslade	Wales	World No 4k
Andy Thomson	England	World No 7
Mervyn King	England	World No 8
Robert Weale	Wales	World No 10
Les Gillett	England	World Joint No 12
Billy Jackson	England	World Joint No 12
Jonathan Ross	Ireland	World No 15
John Price	Wales	World No 17
Graham Smith	England	World No 18
Richard Morgan	Wales	World No 20
Nicky Brett	England	World No 25
Jamie Chestney	England	World No 27
Danny Dennison	England	World No 33

I was eventually a losing finalist to David Gourlay in a very tight and exciting final. This competition gave me great belief and confidence in myself and my ability as a player, to which a week later, I went on to win my play-off to qualify for Potters for the World Singles in January 2009.

I am very lucky in that I work for a great company in Nexus Alpha. I have a fantastic Director who, as a fellow sportsman (runner), appreciates what I have achieved in the game of bowls and supports me in helping me achieve further success. Even the top players in the World find it hard to become a fully fledged professional, so we rely on sponsorship and compassion to allow players like myself to take time off work when required.